Ecotherapy is an emerging field of psychotherapy that expands beyond the traditional human-centered treatment modalities to include the human–nature relationship. Ecotherapy is based on the theoretical orientation of ecopsychology, a relatively new field that recognizes that human health and identity are integrally linked to the health and sustainability of the earth. Ecopsychology maintains that environmental problems and psychological disease are a result of our alienation from the natural world; and thus, one of the goals of ecopsycology is to heal this fundamental split by increasing consciousness of our inherent connection with nature. Ecopsychology takes a holistic approach, addressing the physical, psychological, and spiritual conditions of both the human and the nonhuman world.

Historical Context

The human ecologist Paul Shepard (1925–1996) was perhaps the first social scientist to ...

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